Have
heard these rumours for too long. Time we got the official response to
these rumours: Nigeria Most Corrupt Politician, Bola Tinubu.
The massive looting of Lagos state by the Leader of the Action Congress
of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has reached monumental proportion.
Tinubu whose companies recently cornered a multi-billion road
construction job in Ogun State, has in his pocket all the juicy contract in all the Action Congress’ states.
In retrospect, it might be difficult to come to terms with the fact
that an individual could hold the entire south west to ransom. There is
no doubt that Tinubu has succeeded in buying the Lagos State government,
and he has done this using government funds.
Whenever someone
in Lagos begins to wonder where their 4th mainland bridge went, or what
was the fate of the pipe-borne water project, or even where the schools
and hospitals had vanished to, there is a silence that contains it all.
The largest landlord in Lagos has done as he has pleased, and the rest
of the state just has to deal with it.
For instance: Number 4,
Oyinkan Abayomi (formerly Queens) Drive, Ikoyi: A 5-bedroom detached
house on one acre of land which was originally the Lagos State
Governor’s guest house since 1979, but which now belongs to Tinubu. The
certificate of occupancy of the property valued at N450 million was
signed and released to him by Fashola in 2007 shortly after he assumed
office.
Tinubu’s residence at 26 Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi was
initially falsely presented as Oando Plc Guest House. Later, he
purportedly bought it from Oando, and used public funds to rebuild and
renovate it. The Lagos State Government bought the property and paid an
undisclosed sum to him and thereafter gave the property back to him
under the bogus Pension Bill he signed to law shortly before he left
office in 2007. The property is worth over N600 million.
The annex
of the Lagos State Guest House in Asokoro, Abuja was bought by the State
Government in 2006 for N450 million, purportedly to protect the main
house from security breach. Shortly after Tinubu left office, the
property was transferred to him under the pension plan he signed into
law before leaving office.
The 250-hectare land valued at about
N35billion and strategically located at the Ajah junction on Lekki Road
was initially meant for a General Hospital for the people of Eti-Osa
Local Government but was stolen by Tinubu and handed over to Trojan
Estate Ltd – a company owned by Deji and Wale Tinubu – to develop as
Royal Garden Housing Estate at the expense of the taxpayers of Lagos.
The 1,000 hectares of land valued at about N75billion located at Lakowe
near Abijo at Ibeju-Lekki Local Government and given to Lekki
Concession Company (LCC) which is partly- owned by Tinubu and Fashola
and being developed as golf course and housing estate by Assets and
Resource Management Ltd (ARM) as ADIVA project.
The prime land of
157 hectares with 2.5km of Atlantic beachfront valued at about
N10billion and stolen by Tinubu from the communities of Siriwon,
Igbekodo, Apakin, etc in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government and given to
Ibukun Fakeye – his crony to build a golf course and luxury villa with
little or no compensation to the villagers. In addition, Tinubu paid
$20million (N3billion) out of public treasury to Ibukun Fakeye to
commence the project in late 2006. Fashola has since released additional
funding for this project, which is not owned by the state government.
The 14-hectare Parkview Ikoyi Estate foreshore land reclaimed by Lagos State Government is now owned by Bola Tinubu.
While in office, he allocated to himself the former Strabag yard beside
the Lagos State Secretariat at Alausa, Ikeja. The property is now being
developed into a shopping mall as big as the Palms in Lekki. This is
public property brazenly stolen and now owned by Tinubu, aided by
Fashola.
The choice property at Lekki-Epe road on which he built and
owns the multi-billion Naira Oriental Hotel and the extension of
multi-storey car park beside it. Also, the multi-level recreation centre
by Mobil in Oniru Estate on Lekki-Epe road jointly owned with ARM and
Tunji Olowolafe. All these assets valued at over N25billion were
obtained without paying a kobo to the Lagos State Government.
Tinubu and Fashola sold the following prime Lagos properties to their
personal friend and front – Prince Dipo Eludoyin at very ridiculous
prices:
* The 3.8-hectare of land of Lagos State Fisheries office in VI (beside the Institute of Oceanography) valued at N3billion.
* The fishery landing jetty at Badore (where the Ilubirin fishermen were to be relocated) valued at N500million
* The entire Ogudu foreshore scheme initially earmarked for a low-cost housing scheme valued at N5billion
* The Ilubinrin housing estate (which used to house Lagos state civil servants and judges up till 2007) valued at N2.5billion.
*The former Julius Berger yard at Oko Orisan, Epe valued at N450million.
Tinubu raised a loan of N4.7billion on Eko Akete project for which
nothing was achieved before he turned around to sell the property to his
Chagouri friends of Chagouri & Chagouri and Hitech Construction Ltd
at a ridiculously low price at the expense of the taxpayers of Lagos.
Tinubu applied to personally purchase the Federal Secretariat building
while in office. When he couldn’t get to buy it, he directed Fashola to
stop the eventual owner of the complex to develop it. The complex is
presently wasting away courtesy of the Lagos State Government.
It took several months of horse trading and underhand payments before
Fashola could allow the new owners of 1004 flats to redevelop the
complex. Several other buyers of Federal Government properties and
developers of properties in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Government
Reservation Area Ikeja were forced to succumb to the outrageous demands
of Tinubu, Fashola, Commissioner Abosede and other officials of the
Lagos State Physical Planning Ministry and were made to pay ridiculous
amounts to private accounts before their redevelopments were approved.
Those who refused or were unable to pay could not develop their
properties. This is a major economic strangulation of property
developers and has contributed largely to the skyrocketing rent in
Ikoyi, VI and Lekki axis.
Tinubu converted all the plots of land
where Lagos Polytechnic was located at Ikosi near the old toll gate. He
chased away the Polytechnic in 2006 and went ahead to locate the choice
plots to himself, his cronies and political associates. The headquarters
of Television Continental (TVC), which is owned by him, is located
there. He deprived the youths of Lagos of decent education because of
his greed.
Tinubu solely sold the prime land on Aboyade Cole,
Victoria Island which was recovered from some allotees, to UACN
Properties Plc. The amount of proceeds was shrouded in secrecy.
Eludoyin, fronting for Tinubu, built the estate directly opposite Goshen Beach Estate in Lekki area.
Tinubu’s wife, Remi Tinubu, built the massive New Era Foundation youth
camp at the junction of Eleko, off the Lekki-Epe express road, with
Lagos State funds and has now converted it to personal use.
Tinubu owns the Fara Park Estate and the Beach Wood Estate both in Lekki.
The Critical Care unit at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
(LASUTH) in Ikeja, built and equipped with state funds, is now owned
personally by Tinubu. He has put one Dr. Sikiru Tinubu, (a supposed
cousin of his) to run the outfit. It is run as a private unit and the
proceeds are pocketed by the duo. The unit charges its users
exorbitantly and most Lagosians can hardly afford to pay its high
charges. Much of the revenue is derived from fees paid by the State
Government for patients referred there by its General Hospitals.
Several prominent Nigerians in the judiciary, police, INEC, and other
sensitive agencies have obtained prime land from former Governor Tinubu
and incumbent Governor Fashola over the years without paying a kobo.
Many of them had turned around to sell the land to third parties at
substantial profit. Many top officials in the police, INEC and the
judiciary who participated in the 2003 and 2007 elections and tribunals
in states where Tinubu has interest were compromised with parcels of
free prime Lagos land and cash.
If the Lagos State Land’s Bureau
could publish the names and identities of beneficiaries of land allotees
from 2000 to date, the scandal that will result is better imagined.
Gbenga Ashafa, now a Senator, and Mrs. Awofisayo were the conduits
through which these acts were being perpetrated.
Both were also personally involved in various dubious land transactions on their own.
Prime land and properties have been used to pay off public officials
who are personally close to Tinubu and Fashola for “jobs well done” or
for being privy to sensitive information, notably:
(a) Dele Alake,
former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, was sold a whole house
on Alexander Road, Ikoyi where he lived as official quarters at a
give-away price.
(b) Rauf Aregbesola, Osun State Governor, who was a
former Commissioner in Lagos as well as Muiz Banire, also a former
commissioner, got detached houses at Ladoke Akintola Street, GRA Ikeja
for their “good job” while serving under Tinubu.
(c) Yemi Cardoso
and Wale Edun, both former commissioners, were sold houses on Iru Close,
and another location in old Ikoyi at give-away prices by Tinubu.
SirDeno
via:Mudiame Giwa-Osagie fb
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